Those Sensational Soulful 60's

To say that Jackie Taylor “wrote” this new review is a bit of a stretch; there are three original songs sprinkled in among 32 classics, and unlike Taylor’s musical biographies of stars like Jackie Wilson and Ella Fitzgerald, there’s no attempt here at a story. The only spoken dialogue is some awkward scripted banter among the performers and some very basic introductions to the original artists (the list of facts in the Aretha Franklin intro seems pulled straight from her Wikipedia entry).

Don’t get us wrong, though: None of this is a dig against BET’s production. Those Sensational Soulful 60’s reads like a greatest-hits album of Taylor’s repertoire. Her unrelentingly positive shows are always more tribute than historical document, and this new revue works as a well-curated, inclusive overview of a decade and a genre. Taylor takes pains to make a case that performers as diverse as Frank Sinatra and Mahalia Jackson could be considered soul singers, and she champions the “country soul” of unsung vocalist Esther Phillips.

Infused with numbers from inarguable icons like Sam Cooke, the Temptations and the Supremes, Those Sensational Soulful 60’s works as a nostalgia trip for baby boomers and a Soul 101 course for younger audiences. Taylor’s cast, many of them BET regulars, acquit themselves well (along with the tight live band) in recreating the sound of the ’60s. In the spiffy, retro, supper-club setting of the Black Orchid, with its full bar and table service, BET should attract a number of new devotees.—Kris Vire